North Shore Scenic Railroad 2023

FREE 2023 SOUVENIR EDITION

The Golden Age of Railroading isn’t just remembered, it’s back again!

All Aboard! Welcome!

The Lake Superior

Railroad

Museum at 50 – Our Golden Anniversary

By Ken Buehler

Don Shank always said there would be a railroad museum in Duluth, Minnesota. His vision for what is today’s Lake Superior Railroad Museum and North Shore Scenic Railroad started as the last of the behemoth steam locomotives on the Duluth Missabe & Iron Range Railroad were being retired. Shank was vice president and general manager of the DM&IR and realized that saving these relics from the past was important to properly tell the stories of the men and women who built the railroads that built our great nation.

These giants of steam were the 12 Yellowstone Mallet locomotives built during World War II to haul iron ore from the mines on Minnesota’s Iron Range to the company docks in Duluth and Two Harbors. Shank gave the communities of Two Harbors and Proctor each one of the engines for outdoor display. The best one of the fleet was parked in the roundhouse at Proctor with the word “SAVE” scrawled on the boiler. Instead of being scrapped it was preserved for a railroad museum in Duluth that in 1960 didn’t exist outside of Shank’s vision.

It’s now 11 years later, 1971. Amtrak has just been formed and, after years of trying, the railroads are out of the passenger business. With the ability to

FRONT COVER: DM&IR #193 leads a southbound Two Harbors train back to the Depot. Here the tracks are just below the Rose Garden and hug the shore of Lake Superior. Photo by Dave Schauer used with permission

RIGHT: The William A Crooks steam engine was the very first train in Minnesota. It was brought up the Mississippi River on a barge in 1861 and went into revenue service on the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad on June 28, 1862. It’s one of eight steam locomotives in the collection of the Lake Superior Railroad Museum.

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WELCOME

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cancel underperforming passenger trains, Amtrak cuts service to hundreds of communities. Overnight train stations everywhere had no purpose and the railroads declare them surplus. They were being given away. But the question was, what to do with them?

In 1973 Don Shank, Leo McDonnell, Wayne Olsen, Frank King and Shirley Swain had an idea: build an arts, culture and history center in Duluth’s retired Union Depot. Shank’s vision became a reality 50 years ago when the St. Louis County Heritage & Arts Center was born. Today it is the heart and soul of arts, culture and history in the region.

The Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, Duluth Art Institute, St. Louis County Historical Society, Minnesota Ballet and the Lake Superior Railroad Museum call the Depot home.

The mammoth #227 steam locomotive that Shank set aside for a train

museum he only imagined is now one of the crown jewels in the collection. Other artifacts include the William Crooks, the first steam train in Minnesota, a rare steam powered wrecker crane and private, executive coaches Missabe and Car Northland. Many of the exhibits are open to the public so you can feel like the engineer in the cab of a locomotive, or the conductor up in the cupula of a caboose.

Having an operating tourist railroad was also part of the founder’s vision. When the DM&IR was ready to abandon the Lakefront Line, they stepped in and formed the first rail authority in Minnesota. Then they petitioned the state legislature to fund the acquisition of the route between Duluth and Two Harbors and formed the North Shore Scenic Railroad — the line you are riding on today.

The railroad is a natural addition to the museum. It gives every new generation an opportunity to begin their fascination with trains by forming a railroad story of their own. Admission to the museum and the entire St.

Louis County Depot is half price with the purchase of a ticket on the North Shore Scenic Railroad, which you’ve already done. Thank You!

The founder’s vision of this world class railroad museum is now celebrating its Golden 50th Anniversary. Throughout the year there will be

many special events, programs and excursion rides. For details go to www.lsrm.org or www.duluthtrains. com.

Ken Buehler is the executive director of the Lake Superior Railroad Museum and general manager of the North Shore Scenic Railroad.

Every summer ice cream social has a link to Duluth

By Ken Buehler

It’s Sunday afternoon. The morning sermon was too long for the warm weather and sunshine. But after the

service, in the churchyard, under the cool shade of oak and maple trees, the lemonade is cold and the Lady’s Aid Society is holding

their Sunday Ice Cream Social.

As their parents sit at tables on the lawn, the youngsters play hideand-seek around the

church grounds. The teenagers walk off as couples, hiding behind the trees.

This bucolic scene reminds me of John Gieriet, a man born in Tajetch, Switzerland in 1829. Always a small town, its population today is less than 1,500 and there are 1.4 men for every woman.

Maybe that’s why John left his boyhood home and moved to France.

He was mesmerized with the French, especially their culinary skills. To better understand their cooking, he learned the language and spoke it fluently. In 1884 he came to America and was put in charge of the kitchen at

the White House during the administration of President Franklin Pierce. But what John Gieriet wanted most was to own his own hotel and restaurant.

A year later, in 1885, Gieriet seized on just such an opportunity and moved to Duluth.

DESSERT continued on PAGE

The New Commercial Hotel, at 501 West Superior Street, one block up from our train station, was for sale. It was a bargain because the older hotel was about to be dwarfed by construction of the newer and much larger Spalding Hotel going up next door. The Spalding opened in 1889 in anticipation of the Northern Pacific’s new Union Depot under construction across the street. Today the Depot is the home of the Lake Superior Railroad Museum and the Spalding was where the Duluth Public Library is today.

Gieriet had big ideas. He turned the New Commercial Hotel’s bar into a restaurant and the laundry room into a kitchen and applied his knowledge of French cuisine. He renamed the hotel to match the menu. Welcome to the Hotel la Perl.

On March 26, 1885 the Duluth Daily Tribune published an ad for an opening night gala and grand feast at the Hotel la Perl. It featured French pickles, oysters, French peas, Lake Superior trout and, for dessert, Chef Gieriet warmed up his homemade blueberry pie and served it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. In keeping with his Frenchthemed dinner, he invented a new name for

his new dessert: Pie à la Mode.

The basis of all church ice cream socials ever since, Pie à la Mode was invented and the name coined here in Duluth. Its creation is documented in John Gieriet’s 1912 obituary printed in the New York Times.

Pie à la Mode wasn’t Gieriet’s only invention. Several years later he joined with Joseph Stephan from Fargo, North Dakota, and received a patent for a device to improve ventilation for enclosed spaces. Gieriet already held a patent for an improved fire escape.

The new ventilation idea used a unique corkscrew method that the inventors claimed would distribute outside air evenly through an enclosed structure without blasting occupants on one side of the room while those on the other side suffered without fresh air. The “Ventilation System for Railroad Passenger Cars” was patented on June 20, 1889. So you see, if you work it hard enough it all comes back to the railroad.

Newspaper clipping from the Duluth Daily Tribune, March 26, 1885.

Drawing for the HVAC from the original patent filing for John Gieriet’s other invention.

First class under the glass

By Josh Miller

The golden age of railroading isn’t just remembered here… its back again!

The railroads have a long history of delivering a first-class experience for their passengers. Throughout the generations, guests have been treated to fine dining, deluxe sleeping accommodations, and exquisite service. At the North Shore Scenic Railroad, I’m proud that we can offer at least a small taste of this legacy from the golden-age, first class experiences.

We are excited to be offering first class service options on almost all of our trains this summer. This includes

our Dome Car seating, lounge space, fine dining experiences, and some extra service options for those interested in pay-

Trains run from the Depot NOVEMBER 23DECEMBER 17

It’s the story of a young girl traveling by train to visit her grandparents in Duluth on Christmas Eve. The story is performed in the Railroad Museum at the Depot starting with live music and carolers against a backdrop of decorated trains and storefronts. Then take a train ride past the lights of Bentleyville and along the edge of Lake Superior with hot cocoa and cookies. A special guest will visit and have a magical gift for every passenger!

Chosen one of the “BEST Christmas Train Rides in America” by MSN www.duluthtrains.com for tickets or call 800-423-1273

Sponsored by:

ing just a little more for a unique experience.

Later in August, guests can ride “first class” on the evening train, and have a fine dining fourcourse meal prepared by the best chefs Duluth has to offer, all while enjoying moving scenery out the window. The Elegant Dinner Train runs Fridays and Saturdays throughout late summer into fall, and gives guests a unique

dining experience found nowhere else in the Twin Ports.

These are just a few of many options for excursions on our rail-

road that make it a truly unique attraction here in Duluth. We hope you will come back later this year or in the years to come and try one of our many excursion options.

The magic of the Holiday Season rides on the Christmas City Express

North by Northshore

Not the movie by almost the same name

By Ken Buehler

In the 1959 Alfred Hitchcock classic “North by Northwest,” Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason travel the country in this suspense filled

Made out of authentic train boxcars renovated into lovely guest accommodations, the Northern Rail Traincar Inn is nestled in the wilderness, just 3 miles north of Two Harbors.

spy drama, starting by train on the 20th Century Limited. The movie has them going from New York City to Chicago to Mt. Rushmore. The famous crop duster scene was filmed outside of Bakersfield, Calif. playing the part of Highway 41 in downstate

Indiana — even though the road signs are the wrong shape for Indiana.

You are the star today in our version of this action packed movie traveling on the North Shore Scenic Railroad in “North by Northshore.”

Oneof the movie’s opening scenes is Grand Central Station in New York as the 20th Century Limited is departing from its red carpeted platform. Your opening scene is on track #1 at the historic Union Depot in downtown Duluth boarding the North Shore Scenic Railroad’s Duluth Zephyr.

There’s a slight difference between the two stations. But the intended results are the same. Roger Thornill (Cary Grant) is getting on a train in New York City’s Grand Central Station and you are in Duluth. Unfortunately for him, Thornhill has just been mistaken for a government agent and is being followed by ruthless spies. You might want to check over your shoulder.

Romance on the Rails. As the train travels through the night between New York and Chicago, Grant meets the beautiful and mysterious Eve Kendal (Eva Marie Saint) for dinner in the diner.

Thetrain sequences for “North by Northwest” were all shot on a soundstage in Hollywood. The magic of the movies. While they did shoot some scenes from the vestibule of a moving train, interior quarters are a little too tight for filming.

On the North Shore Scenic Railroad, you can have dinner in an authentic dining car aboard one of our elegant dinner trains. The railroad museum’s Lake of the Isles dining car is from the same era as the one portrayed in the movie.

Alfred Hitchcock only made one movie for MGM and “North by Northwest” was it. But in almost every movie he ever directed Hitchcock would slip in a personal cameo. In “Strangers on a Train,” we catch him boarding the train carrying a large, double base in an instrument case. In “Birds,” Hitchcock walks out of a pet store just as Tippy Hedren enters.

In “North by Northwest” he misses a bus in New York City.

We hope you enjoy your “North by Northshore” adventure. Thank you for riding with us. Cut! That’s a wrap.

Thegood news is nothing like this will ever happen to you in “North by Northshore.” Nor will you have to climb the faces on Mt. Rushmore. But we do have great scenery along our tracks.

I’m the executive “director” of the Lake Superior Railroad Museum so I guess this is my cameo.

Rolling out the red carpet

By Ken Buehler

When important people go to important places they roll out the red carpet. Think Oscars… Flash….movie stars…..Flash….paparazzi….Flash….

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celebrities….Flash.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has the most famous, signature red carpet. They adopted it on April 17, 1961, rolled out in front of the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in California. Bob Texaco Hope was the Master of Ceremonies at the Oscars that year. “The Apartment” won Best Picture and it was the last black and white movie to win until “Schindler’s List” in 1993.

The Academy got the new entryway idea from another famous red carpet that started in 1902. The place was New York City’s Grand Central Station. A huge labyrinth of tunnels, platforms and tracks made it difficult to stand out and for passengers to find their way to the right train. That was a problem the New York Central Railroad wanted to solve for the kind of premium passen-

gers they wanted to ride their new flagship train the 20th Century Limited.

The 20th Century Limited was an all first class, overnight express train between New York and Chicago. It made a few stops, scooped up water from pans between the rails to save time and catered to upper class celebrities and business travelers.

To make sure these express passengers had a way to find their train and know they were special, the New York Central was the first to roll out the red carpet. This special crimson walkway led right down the platform from the waiting area to the open vestibules in what became known as Red Carpet Treatment.

And once again, if you work it hard enough….it all comes back to the Railroad.

Want more of the railroad museum?

LSRM offers Behind the Scenes Video Tours on YouTube

By Ken Buehler

The Minnesota railroad story about the invention of bottled water joins segments on trains and TV dinners, the necessity for time zones, drinking games and inventions by women and Blacks that started on the railroads and changed America. There are also detailed episodes on every single piece of equipment in the collection of the Lake Superior Railroad Museum. You can view over 150 of these Behind the Scenes Video Tours on our YouTube channel. We produced them because there was nothing else to do.

When COVID closed the world, the Lake Superior Railroad Museum closed too. With nothing to do for eight months, we went Hollywood.

Videographer and Station Master Josh Miller and I filmed and produced a series of five- to seven-minute segments featuring railroad history, train stories and interesting links between railroads and everyday life. We dropped a new one every single day the museum was

closed, which is why there are so many. Who knew COVID would last that long?

They have been viewed over a million and a half times and monetized by YouTube, which makes us small time Train Influencers.

We don’t dance, show cat videos, blow stuff up or tell you how to fix your Apple iPad at home on the kitchen table using a screwdriver, Elmer’s glue and a soup spoon. These are fun and sometimes funny train stories.

They were motivators for parents who were homeschooling their children. The youngsters could watch each day’s episode ONLY after they completed their lessons. We received comments and posts from around the world, which led to the highest number of members in the museum’s history.

New ones are still coming out. Go to www.duluthtrains.com/videotours to watch every episode. We hope you like them.

To find over 150 short story videos about artifacts in the Lake Superior Railroad Museum and the interesting stories they evoke, visit www.duluthtrains.com/videotours on YouTube.

When you get to Two Harbors

Editor’s Note: The North Shore Scenic Railroad is proud to serve communities along the tracks going up the shore of Lake Superior. Knife River and Larsmont are occasional stops on the Two Harbors Turn that ends right in downtown Two Harbors. When you arrive you’ll be greeted by friendly people and railroad history. Look to the landside of the train for a view of a giant Yellowstone Mallet locomotive and the more diminutive “Three Spot” (#3). This is their story as told by Todd Lindahl noted Two Harbors railroad historian.

By Todd Lindahl

By 1934 the Great Depression had hit the former Duluth & Iron Range Railroad very hard and they were taking drastic measures to save as much of the business as possible.

The Duluth Missabe & Northern had leased the D&IR in 1930 in the second year of the depression. The venerable “Three Spot” locomotive had been saved from the scrap yard by the Veteran Employee Association and put on permanent display next to the Two Harbors depot in 1923. 1934 was an important year since it marked the Half-Century of Progress in the Transportation of Iron Ore celebration.

The city of Two Har-

bors began to plan events honoring this milestone in Minnesota’s iron mining history. They approached railroad president C.E. Carlson requesting they build a replica wooden 28-foot ore car and a four-wheel “bopper type” caboose to be added to the Three Spot display. The request was flatly turned down since the estimated $1,500 cost to build them new was seen as being too expensive. However, the railroad did agree to provide no more than $500 and employees, on their own time, could use the company shops after hours to build the display pieces.

Car shop foreman L.

A. Running pointed out that caboose #52 was

about to be scrapped. The 1893 caboose had been a four-wheeled bobber but had been stretched in 1909 to comply with the state’s double-track law. The car was shortened and all modern-at-the-

time equipment like air brakes and automatic couplers were removed.

The ore car has an even more interesting history. It was one of 300 purchased in 1883 from a company in

Stillwater, Minnesota. They were delivered to Two Harbors by barge from Duluth. Through some error in planning, they were the wrong length for the ore dock pockets that were on 24-foot cen-

ters. That meant tying up an engine and crew to reposition the train the entire time it was dumping. That mistake was never made again.

TWO HARBORS continued on PAGE 14

Here's a good look at the engine, ore car and "bobber" caboose written about by Todd Lindahl. It was taken by Basgen Photography before the protective canopy on the side of the Two Harbors depot was installed. Photo from the collection of the Lake Superior Railroad Museum.

Thomas & Percy say ‘Hi’

The Biggest Little Engine in the World comes to Two Harbors

By Ken Buehler

Recognized the world over as the No. 1 engine on the Island of Sodor, Thomas the Tank is a regular visitor to the North Shore Scenic Railroad. He’ll be back again in August with a little bit of a change. Our annual Day Out With Thomas is moving to Two Harbors. We’re excited about the opportunity to partner with Lovin’ Lake County to bring this nationally recognized event to the grassy area right in front of the Two Harbors Depot.

Thomas is moving from one tourist destination town to another. This allows us to run our regular excursion schedule in Duluth and still give fans of Thomas and Percy their opportunity to ride with them. Everything you love about Thomas will be as usual with the added treat of having Percy back with him. Sir Topham Hatt is coming, the bounce

houses will be inflated, we’ll have festival foods and some local Two Harbor treats as well. Ample parking in Two Harbors is FREE!

Sensory Friendly Day is also returning and will be held in Two Harbors. While Thomas is for everyone, not everyone can be with Thomas. For people with autism the crowds, noise and apparent confusion of any big event, such as a Day Out

With Thomas, can be off-putting. So to make

sure all his friends can spend some time with

Monday: Roast beef dinner $10.95

Tuesday: Turkey dinner $11.95

Friday: Country fried steak & eggs $10.95

Country fried steak dinner $9.95

Featuring our own

• Homemade pies - 50 kinds!

• Cranberry wild rice bread

• Sourdough dinner rolls & hamburger rolls.

Thomas the Tank Engine and his bestie Percy are coming to the North Shore Scenic Railroad on the first two weekends in August. Tickets are available at www.duluthtrains.com

Two Harbors Minnesota showing the large grassy area in front of the Depot where Thomas and his friends will be. Trains pulled by Thomas and Percy will take off from the tracks in front of the Depot.

THOMAS continued on PAGE 14

THOMAS continued from PAGE 13

their favorite engine, we offer a toneddown, slower and more orderly experience. Working with Autism Speaks Minnesota and the Depot Foundation, tickets for a family member on the Spectrum and a chaperone are FREE. The North Shore Scenic Railroad was

the first in the nation to offer a Sensory Friendly Day and it’s now a part of every Thomas event.

Thomas and his bestie Percy will be in Two Harbors on the North Shore Scenic Railroad the first two weekends in August. Sensory Friendly Day is August 7. For tickets go to www. duluthtrains.com.

As new cars of proper length replaced the old wooden ones, several were rebuilt as gravel spreaders. One of these spreaders designated as spreader #2 had been sold for scrap in 1934. It was immediately repurchased by the company and reconfigured to the #251 on display. It is the only surviving wooden ore car

left from either the D&IR or DM&N. Amazingly the restoration of these two cars was accomplished for under the $500 limit.

The ore car and caboose have been on display now for 88 years. In another 11 years, in 2034, they may be celebrating 150 years of transporting iron ore as well as a 100-year-old restoration.

Two historic locomotives meet in Two Harbors. On the left is the Three Spot, the first steam engine on the Duluth & Iron Range Railroad. To its left is the SOO Line #2500. It was the first F7 unit purchased by the SOO Line and the first one made by EMD as a demonstrator. Photo by Dave Schauer used with permission

TWO HARBORS continued from PAGE 12

Poking out behind the SOO Line #2500, under its protective canopy at the Two Harbors Depot Museum, the historic Three Spot is putting a short consist of the last existing wooden ore car from either the D&IR or DM&N ahead of a "bopper" caboose.

Photo by Dave Schauer used with permission

Membership Perks

By Ken Buehler

Who wouldn’t want to be a railroad baron, a scion of industry, a James J. Hill, Harriman or Vanderbilt? They had some fun building the railroads that built our great nation. Hill called the Great Northern Railroad his “Great Adventure.” Now you can own a piece of the North Shore Scenic Railroad.

The railroad is run by the nonprofit Lake Superior Railroad Museum. As an LSRM member, you have a stake in what happens in the museum and on the tracks. There are several levels of membership and each one comes with different perks and incentives. Take FREE train rides, visit the museum as often as you like, have dinner in the diner and be the first to learn about museum events.

The best part of membership is receiving the museum’s quarterly publication, The JUNCTION. This full color magazine is loaded with interesting stories on museum happenings, railroad history, current railroad news and some of the finest trackside photography found anywhere. The best perk of all is knowing you’re supporting a world class railroad

museum and helping to make it better.

To join the Lake Supe-

rior Railroad Museum, go to www.lsrm.org and click on membership.

Don’t just ride the train today – OWN IT!